[JetsIn06]

The 1957-58 Offseason

SP Nick Moody lets us know he's NOT opting out of his deal, and we'll owe him $25M a year for two more seasons.

We can now roll between 1-3 since we made the playoffs. Our transaction allowances for next season:

FA roll (1-3): 3
Trade roll (1-3): 2

Carryover from last season: +1 FA
Profit ($24M): +1 to both
Worst record penalty: N/A
Win World Series: N/A

Total:

45+ rated FA: 5
Trades: 3

With expected total expenses around $160M on revenues of $168, there's not much wiggle room here to make a profit and utilize those FA allowances. We'll certainly explore some trades, and our arbitration class is huge, with 15 players.

SP Joey Parrish is the lone pending free agent, as he's finally reached the requisite amount of service time. He's looking for an eight year, $337M deal, which we of course will not be able to offer. We'll tender him a qualifying offer, then re-connect in FA to see if his demands cool off at all.

Arbitration

Lots of first-year players, so most estimates are low, within the $1M-$3M range. We'll get to those. First, DH Guillermo Rodriguez is the big ticket player here, with a $19M estimate. To be fair, he deserves it. And $860K IAFA signing back in 1948, he's blossomed into one of the best and most consistent hitters in the league. He's played all but TWO games over the last four seasons, with 700+ PA in each. The 27-year-old has slashed .287/.368/.489, with a wRC+ of 134 for his career so far. Looking at OPS, his .858 mark puts him in the Top 25 players of all-time in our league. We'll come back to this.

C Yastuka Yamashiro is estimated to receive $12M. The defense is great, and he's produced 4 WAR on average despite a .211/.314/.356 triple slash in his time here. The K% is up over 30% which is concerning, for sure. But I think we're going to let him stay behind the plate again for the 1958 season and get him under contract for another season.

Everyone else is a relatively easy decision; some relievers who have been up and down between the majors and AAA who are now out of option are non-tendered to get some flexibility there, and 1B Bryant Hammock and 1B Bill Robbe are both non-tendered. Hammock is a lefty bat tha was a 4th-round pick in 1948, and he's a classic "Quad-A" guy who can hit for some power but never seems to make it click in the big leagues. Robbe is similar, just the right-handed version. He came back in the original SP Joey Parrish trade, when we sent him to New York. He was at one time the #9 prospect in baseball, so we were really hoping he would be a key piece in that return. He played decently in his first full season with us, with a 104 wRC+. But like Hammock, the power never ended up playing in the majors, and last year he got sent down and finished the year in AAA.

I take a look around the league for left-handed hitters with speed; that really seems to be where we fell apart in the playoffs. There was very little balance on our team. CF Jorge Gonzales of New Orleans is available; he stole 54 bases last year and can play a great outfield. No power, but I'd love to have this guy in my lineup. We're listening on SP Nick Moody, who at 35 with $50M left isn't exactly the greatest value for us; let's see if we can put something together.

We do. We send SP Nick Moody, the two aforementioned 1B that we were planning to non-tender, and a relief prospect. They'll send Gonzalez and cover a portion of his contract that will keep his highest contract year around $16M for us.

Moody signed with us as a free agent prior to the 1955 season. He was great overall, the model of consistency, with 97 starts over the three years he spent with us, with a league-leading 6.6 WAR and 225 IP in his 1956 campaign.

FA: 5
Trades: 2

So all of this brings us back to DH Guillermo Rodriguez. Do we get him on a one-year deal and understand he'll probably walk after 1959? Or do we trade him for young, controllable assets now, ones that can actually play the field.

With the Moody contract gone, let's actually go into free agency. I'd be okay covering part of Rodriguez's salary for a season if can get us a better return, and I won't be able to do that until we tender him a contract and officially enter the FA signing period.

Free Agency

We make a deal with Detroit, sending them DH Guillermo Rodriguez, SS prospect and defensive wizard Kellen Almond (unranked, our 55th prospect), and SP prospect Matt Shaffer (#348, our #21 prospect), and $14M to cover Rodriguez's salary.

The return is headlined by LF Jorge Zermeno, the one-time #3 prospect who just graduated off the list this season. He's a right-handed bat that can definitely play in the corner outfield, with massive power and a tremendous eye (both 7). The contact is a little iffy (5) and he has no speed or baserunning ability, but the power/eye combination could be huge. He has less than a year of service time, so he's under team control for the next six seasons.

Additionally, 2B Chris McGinnis comes over in the deal. He's the #327 prospect and #13 in Detroit's system. Our scout like him a bit more than that, and Detroit picked him with the 21st overall pick last summer. He can play 2B. 3B, and fill in at SS if needed, and the 6/5/6 bat profile works if he develops.

Finally, two relief arms who just hit arbitration come over in the deal as well. Each is a high stuff, low control arm. Neither is overly expensive, but these guys helped make the financials work and I'll have a couple spots in the bullpen open with some guys from last year moving back into the rotation.

FA: 5
Trades: 1

And we're going to take a risk here, signing newly acquired OF Jorge Zermeno to an eight-year, $50M extension. Again; great for us if he works out, but the soon-to-be 25-year-old is now set for life.

FA: 4
Trades: 1

Wheeling and dealing now. Two moves in one, here. OF John Hollis is 27, and has been back and forth between AAA and the majors, but we like him, he's durable, can play defense, and is a switch-hitter. He was our 4th round pick back in 1952 and has a 97 wRC+ over 567 PAs in the majors, spread out over a couple of seasons. He's a glue guy, as they say; or rather will be. We sign him to a very team friendly deal of $24M over six seasons; not bad for a guy who's been riding the bus in the minors.

But with a glut of OF, we then trade OF Jon Oviedo. He's been injured often, and has also been back and forth between the majors and AAA. We picked him 3rd overall back in 1951, but it has never really clicked here. He goes to the Philadelphia Patriots, who send us SP Nick Manessis in return. Manessis is 27 and has five years of control left. He's bounced back and forth between the pen, the rotation, and the minors. Our scout is in love with his changeup, and think the stuff will play.

FA: 3
Trades: 0

The best defensive catcher in the league is C Jamie Brown, a switch-hitter who spent most of his career with Cleveland as a starter, but joined Detroit as a backup last season. His wRC+ last year was -22, but was generally between 40-50 for most of his career. The guy can't hit or run. But he can really, really catch. He's the only player in the league that our scout sees as an 8 catching ability.

Before he signs, the Rule-5 draft occurs, and we get decimated. I'm praying these teams can't keep these guys on their roster all year, but we lose four players, all guys who I think can be major league talents.

C Jamie Brown signs.

FA: 2
Trades: 0

Our offseason frenzy is over, and we'll convert the 2x FA signings to 1x trade, so we can use one near the deadline.

FA: 0
Trades: 1

Spring training next.